Grant: Operating Grant - PA: HIV/AIDS Bridge Funding - Biomedical/Clinical Stream

Currently most patients receiving HIV treatment in sub-Saharan Africa do not have access to expensive laboratory testing which is commonly available in North America or Europe. Two recent studies have confirmed that patients generally do quite well in the short term without access to these laboratory tests. However, the long-term impact of keeping large numbers HIV patients on treatment without laboratory testing which allows early detection of treatment failure is unknown. This study will look at how frequently HIV drug resistance mutations develop in a group of HIV positive patients who are receiving treatment through The AIDS Support Organisation, a large Ugandan HIV care and treatment program. We will also study the impact that these mutations have on how these mutations affect responses to second-line HIV treatment.